The Iliad and The Odyssey of Homer.

POPE, Alexander. [Homer].

Item Number: 130490

London: Printed for J. Whiston Baker, and Leigh, W. Strahan, T. Payne, J. and F. Rivington, T. Davies, Hawes Clarke and Collins, R. Horsfield, et al, 1771.

Rare 18th century printing of Pope’s famed translations of Homer’s two great ancient Greek epic poems. First edition in this form. Octavo, 9 volumes bound in full calf with morocco spine labels lettered in gilt, gilt turn-ins, engraved frontispiece portraits of Homer and Pope, one engraved plate, and folding map to the first volume of The Iliad. Vol. IX in a variant binding. In very good condition.

Ancient Greek author and epic poet Homer was the reputed author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, the two foundational works of ancient Greek literature. He is regarded as one of the greatest and most influential writers of all time. The Iliad is set during the Trojan War, the ten-year siege of the city of Troy by a coalition of Mycenaean Greek kingdoms. It focuses on a quarrel between King Agamemnon and the warrior Achilles lasting a few weeks during the last year of the war. The Odyssey focuses on the ten-year journey home of Odysseus, king of Ithaca, after the fall of Troy. The Homeric epics were the greatest influence on ancient Greek culture and education; to Plato, Homer was simply the one who "has taught Greece" (ten Hellada pepaideuken).